Posted on 06/15/2014 9:09:53 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Sunday he will vote for Dave Brat, the man who ended his career in Congress, but stopped short of congratulating him or mentioning his name.
Cantor, who lost to Brat despite outspending by a margin of 26 to 1, stressed the importance of keeping the Republican Party unified, a message he stressed to Tea Party conservatives in the House after the 2013 government shutdown.
Cantor said keeping his seat, Virginia’s 7th congressional district, in Republican hands is a priority and that’s why he’ll vote for Brat, who pummeled him mercilessly on the campaign trail as an ideological sellout.
“I want a Republican to hold this seat. Of course. Of course,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union." “This is about making sure that we have a strong Republican majority in the House. I'm hopeful we'll take it in the Senate, as well. I'm very optimistic about that.”
Cantor said GOP control of the House and Senate will provide a “real check” on the Obama administration.
But he did not mention Brat by name or congratulate him for his victory.
This has rankled Brat supporters who have criticized Cantor for not taking this customary step. They see it akin to Novak Djokovic not shaking Rafael Nadal’s hand after losing the French Open last week.
Cantor declined to speculate about his political future. He ruled out the possibility of running for governor in Virginia.
“No,” he said when asked about that job. “I am right now looking forward to sitting down with my wife, Diana. And we’ve talked a little bit. But we’re going to talk some more about the future.”
I agree brat should never agreed to go on msnbc so soon. He wasn’t ready. He held his own, but he needs to be careful. I want to see him win in November.
Still hasn’t managed to bring himself to congratulate Brat on his win, hm?
What a pathetic loser.
Fine, Norm. Happy Father’s Day.
No, just your average GOP Republican. That’s the face of the party today and people should look hard at it.
Thanks. Now how about an apology to the voters you mocked like a liberal?
Yes, let's hang on to those gutless establishment amnesty-pushers who maintain cowed silence in the face of Obama's constant lawbreaking. Then that magic day will come when they all come around to our thinking. /S
Oh, he's still pushing it on other threads.
Seems too hard a truth for some, but there it is.
So tacky. I was taught as a child by my parents that it isn’t how you handle winning that points to your character, but how you handle losing.
Evidently Cantor never learned this.
I am very used to seeing a few posters on FR advocate a strategy of losing to win.
I’m all about supporting the most conservative candidate in the primary. I loved seeing Cantor get taken down. The difference is that, unlike you, I also prefer to support the more conservative candidate in the general. I can’t get excited about handing a Senate seat (and possibly the Senate majority) to a pro-abort Democrat just to satisfy my anger at the RINOs. You have to have some mental discipline with this stuff.
Oh I fully realize that in your minds the Republicans and the Democrats pose an equal threat. That’s just another faulty premise that you operate from.
Eventually they will have the realization we did. Might be after they take us down the rabbit hole to hell, but they will indeed have it.
And I or someone like me will be there to thank them for not listening to us. To appreciate their contribution to liberalism. Because back when we were on the rez, it was somewhat worth living on. for the last several years there is no excuse.
They openly side with liberals in the GOP so I guess that means that those who support them openly side with liberals as well. Otherwise why support the GOP? They havent done anything good for us or America in a long time now...and much against.
Words and actions mean things.
Prove it. I have all the evidence backing my position. Show me the non caving. Show me the non support of Amnesty. Show me a prosecuted liberal Democrat in this admin in jail.
Because I can show you the opposite of all of them.
If you want to ride unicorns over rainbows, please do. Just don’t try selling me on a fantasy.
I’m shocked...
To your points- firstly the 7th is about the most 'unneedy' of fed spending district in the country! I can't think of ANY thing they want from the feds. Cantor's clout was of very little real value.
Secondly, running the House for the purpose of getting a majority in the Senate has been a disaster. Cantor's loss is a direct consequence of Boehner working to help R Senators avoid tough votes. One example: making Cantor (and others) vote for the debt hike was a strong blow to their reelection chances.
It hasn't worked- we're still in the minority! If we finally win it this year one can as well argue it will be in spite of the House Leadership's actions! I think if we had let the democratic House be democratic and represent the people and let the chips fall we'd have had better Senate and Presidential electoral results. I think the public debate would have changed to our benefit- if only from the synergy of conservatives' involvement.
I don’t understand why conservatives believe there is any benefit or good side to voting for people who openly support the Democratic platform.
I have friends who persist in believing that an “R” behind the name means they’re automatically one of the good guys, and that supporting them is the only choice we have. They will not be convinced otherwise.
You mean liberals like Mitch McConnell with a 90% ACU rating? Is it really so hard to fathom why someone might hesitate just a bit at the idea of replacing him with a liberal — liberal meaning actual liberal — Democrat? It is truly odd how you guys pretend like the other side of the argument doesn’t exist.
One of the claims was that Virginians dislike Jews. As a Virginian, I took it personally,
I will guarantee you that any anti-Semites in this state are also Democrats.
Are you remotely serious? No really. Are you that deluded that you are going to try telling me Mitch is a conservative working in the best interests of America?
His ACU/Morquist rating is as fabricated a stat as his conservatism. Then man spent his latter career working to thwart conservatives and voting ‘correctly’ when it doesn’t matter.
for God sakes MITCH??? You are beyond having lost contact with reality.
The other side of the argument is wrong. Why should I ponder ‘wrong’ the whole point is to defeat ‘wrong’.
Its easy. They arent conservatives. they are moderates that for some reason think conservative is the ‘cool kids’ table and they want a seat. They just disagree with most of what we discuss at it.
Translated: I want my cake and to eat it too.
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